Youth Update: April 11, 2011

FOXBOROUGH, Mass. – The New England Revolution Under-18s and Under-16s each played one match at home on Sunday, April 10, going a combined 2-0-0 against MLS youth rival D.C. United.

UNDER-18s

The Under-18s earned a convincing 4-1 victory over D.C. United on Sunday. D.C. put the pressure on immediately, and was called offsides twice in the opening minutes of its offensive push. First to find the back of the net, however, was the Revs’ own Michael Rincon (Malden, Mass.). Winning the ball in the midfield, Rincon moved up the right flank before firing a shot past United’s goalkeeper in the seventh minute. New England continued to maintain much of the possession throughout the next 30 minutes of the game. Finishing a series of five passes, Adrian Reifsnyder (Newton, Mass.) scored on a first-timer from 20 yards out in the 35th minute. The momentum shifted in United’s favor in the remaining minutes of the half, but the Revs were able to hold their defensive shape.

Already credited with an assist on Reifsnyder's first half goal, Fabio Machado, Jr. (Leominster, Mass. ) scored the Revolution’s third goal in the 50th minute. Cameron Bielski’s (Dover, Mass.) cross from the right wing found Machado, who performed an acrobatic volley to beat a scrambling D.C. keeper. With another shift in momentum, the Revs found themselves defending on their heels. In the 75th minute, defender Colin Sweeney (Southborough, Mass.) cleared a dangerous ball off the line before goalkeeper Jose Silva (Northborough, Mass.) collected the follow-up shot. The Revs composed themselves in the following minutes, but a United goal in the 79th made it 3-1. Play remained back-and-forth for a stretch, before pressure from Machado nearly caused an own goal for D.C. Now playing as a forward, Machado took on several defenders in a spectacular individual effort and was awarded a penalty kick after being dragged down in the box. The Leominster native converted in the 89th minute, again extending New England’s lead. In the final minute of play, Silva made his sixth and seventh saves of the game to preserve the 4-1 win.

UNDER-16s

The Under-16s defeated D.C. United, 3-2, on Sunday. The first 20 minutes of play were fairly open, and included free kicks for both sides. The Revs struck first in the 23rd minute, when a Christian Sady (North Anover, Mass.) pass out of the back found Diego Fagundez (Leominster, Mass.) on the left wing. Fagundez took on a defender before driving a shot into the lower right corner of the net in the 23rd minute. D.C. equalized just five minutes later and continued to look dangerous throughout the remainder of the half. A vocal David Hepp (Natick, Mass.) made a series of three saves, but was then beaten in the 39th minute, making it 2-1 D.C.

On the other side of the break, the Revs immediately looked to level the score. The equalizer came in the 43rd minute, when New England was awarded a free kick. Fagundez served the ball into the box, where Devin Devoy (North Attleborough, Mass.) got a head to it and hit the crossbar. Willis Griffith (Amherst, N.H.) was there for the follow-up, making it 2-2. Pushing for the go-ahead goal, both D.C. and New England continued to threaten. In the 75th minute, Devoy collected a pass from Fagundez outside of the box and evaded an advancing goalkeeper to give the Revs the lead.

With Sunday’s win, the Revolution Under-18 team – now 6-8-2 – moved back into third place in the Northeast Division. The Under-16s now hold a 6-5-5 record after Sunday’s win, and remain in second place in the division. Both teams are on the road again next weekend, when they will play Seacoast United in Epping, N.H. on Saturday, April 16, and Empire United in Syracuse, N.Y. on Sunday, April 17.